Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / WOR White House Correspondent Jon Decker Interview

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WOR White House Correspondent Jon Decker Interview · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Oh, I got to tell you, the quiet storm is
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: with us, Chris, on loan from Mark Simone, while Natalie
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: is mending from the operation she had on her knee.
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  Speaker 1: I'm ready.
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  Speaker 2: I'm ready to come back soon.
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  Speaker 1: She's ready and ready and waiting for us right now
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  Speaker 1: is John Decker, our White House correspondent for WOR. Good morning, John.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Curtis.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Larry.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Hope you're doing well today.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: But I'm a little confused. Maybe you can help me.
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  Speaker 1: I'm looking at Truth Social yesterday. The president posted, mission accomplished.
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  Speaker 1: It was a picture of him and the old Ayatollah,
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  Speaker 1: father of, we think, Ayatollah who's alive. And it was
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  Speaker 1: almost like a redo of Bush 43 when he was
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  Speaker 1: on the aircraft carrier claiming mission accomplished in Iraq. But
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: it was on the same day that Oman said that
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  Speaker 1: they had an agreement with Iran that to share revenue
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: for ships passing through the Straits of Hormuz like a toll.
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  Speaker 1: And I thought just last week the president said to Oman,
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  Speaker 1: you dare do that, we're going to bomb you. Help me.
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  Speaker 1: Help me here, John.
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  Speaker 2: I wish I could help you. I can help you.
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  Speaker 2: It's inexplicable, you know, in terms of what the president
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  Speaker 2: put out there. The mission has not been accomplished. If
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  Speaker 2: the mission is the goal the president set out at
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  Speaker 2: the very beginning of this conflict, which is denuclearizing Iran,
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  Speaker 2: that mission has not been accomplished. If the mission is
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  Speaker 2: making certain that Iran no longer funds its proxies in
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  Speaker 2: the region, that mission has not been accomplished. So it's
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  Speaker 2: a little premature to be writing that. In addition to
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  Speaker 2: what you just said, Curtis, the Strait of Hormuz essentially
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  Speaker 2: remains shut down. And it has been shut down since
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  Speaker 2: the beginning of this conflict when it began in late February.
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  Speaker 3: I wanted you to explain to me something that happened
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  Speaker 3: yesterday because I thought it was very emotional and I
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: thought it was extremely important, but I don't quite understand
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: what happened. The Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, hosted a
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: ceremony at the Pentagon to present upgraded Valor Awards to
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  Speaker 3: three retired Marines who served during the 2021 Abbey gate
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  Speaker 3: attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. There was a terrorist attack. Some
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  Speaker 3: of the service members died. Why did this have to
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  Speaker 3: happen this many years later? Why didn't they get this
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  Speaker 3: award before?
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  Speaker 2: Well, they could have gotten the award last year. I
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  Speaker 2: think that what the administration wanted to do is to
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  Speaker 2: remind the public that was paying attention to what you
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  Speaker 2: just referenced of that chaotic withdrawal of Afghanistan. And one
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  Speaker 2: way to do it is to honor the individuals that
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  Speaker 2: you just mentioned, give them a V for valor for
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  Speaker 2: the mission that they were involved with. That really was
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  Speaker 2: a mission that was a pretty dangerous one, given the
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: fact that 13 service members died on that day when
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  Speaker 2: that chaotic withdrawal from Kabul occurred. So I think that
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  Speaker 2: is the reason for doing the event which occurred yesterday.
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  Speaker 2: But to your point, Larry, it could have happened last year.
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  Speaker 2: It was just simply that, you know, I think the
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  Speaker 2: The Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense just thought,
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  Speaker 2: what can we do to remind people of what happened
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  Speaker 2: during the Biden years?
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  Speaker 3: Is there any reason why it didn't happen under President Biden?
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  Speaker 3: Were they just trying to not call attention to what
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: happened that day? Oh, yeah, absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: When you look at that day and you look at
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  Speaker 2: what happened, that to me, you know, when you look
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  Speaker 2: at President Joe Biden's approval rating, that marked the beginning
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  Speaker 2: of the precipitous decline in in his approval ratings. He was,
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  Speaker 2: when he took office, at mid-50s. And after the chaotic withdrawal,
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  Speaker 2: that's when his approval rating steeply declined. And it's all
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: attributable to what happened in Kabul, Afghanistan, in his first
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: year in office.
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  Speaker 1: So, John Decker, we were told very publicly that our
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  Speaker 1: CIA director, John Radcliffe, had flown to Moscow to have
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  Speaker 1: one-on-one meetings, we think, with Vladimir Putin. Generally, your CIA
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  Speaker 1: guy is pretty stealth. What was the message from that,
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  Speaker 1: if any, that we are to derive from that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, according to the Wall Street Journal's reporting, the message was,
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  Speaker 2: do not think about moving further into NATO territory in
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  Speaker 2: terms of your territorial ambitions. Now, this is not the
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  Speaker 2: first time that a CIA director has traveled, as you
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  Speaker 2: put it, Curtis stealthily to Moscow to deliver a message
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  Speaker 2: to Russia. It happened during President Joe Biden's time in office.
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  Speaker 2: It was in November of 2021. And William Burns traveled
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  Speaker 2: to Moscow to deliver a message. Do not think about
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  Speaker 2: invading Ukraine. And what happened several months later in February
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  Speaker 2: of 2022? That's exactly what happened. So this message was
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  Speaker 2: delivered by our CIA director under President Trump. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we'll see whether that message was heard loud and clear
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  Speaker 2: by the leadership of Russia, including Vladimir Putin.
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  Speaker 3: I'll tell you what, after Labor Day, John, I can't
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  Speaker 3: imagine you're not going to be on the road a
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  Speaker 3: lot during these midterms. I think President Trump has already
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: kind of signaled that he's going to be traveling around
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  Speaker 3: the country. This is extremely important to his agenda and
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  Speaker 3: maybe his future as president if they were to take
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  Speaker 3: the House and the Senate. I would think they'd surely
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: try to impeach him. So have we got any insight
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  Speaker 3: to how much he's going to be out there?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, he's going to be out there. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: when you think about those competitive Senate races, the races
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  Speaker 2: in which Democrats believe they can flip Senate seats, those
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  Speaker 2: are the places that the president will travel to. So
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: one place is actually Texas, and that's where the president
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  Speaker 2: will travel to today. He'll be in Houston. There's a
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  Speaker 2: Texas Senate race, and that is something that Democrats believe
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  Speaker 2: they can flip and gain that seat. That would be
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  Speaker 2: pretty remarkable in red Texas to flip a seat to
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  Speaker 2: the Democratic side. The president will likely also travel to
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  Speaker 2: places like Ohio and North Carolina, Iowa, maybe even all
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  Speaker 2: the way out to Alaska to help out Dan Sullivan,
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  Speaker 2: who's in a very tough reelection fight to win a
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  Speaker 2: third term in the U.S. Senate.
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  Speaker 1: Now, John, all the candidates out there, because it seems
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  Speaker 1: like they're neck and neck racists all over the place,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: are saying to the president and his staff. We want
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: a little Darlene Graham love. We need the love. We
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  Speaker 1: need the support. And most importantly, we need that PAC money.
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  Speaker 1: You gave her close to a million dollars in the
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  Speaker 1: waning days of her primary victory. We need some of
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  Speaker 1: that love. Is the president ready to give out that money?
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I think he's sitting on about $ 300 million that could
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  Speaker 1: be utilized in the campaign. And what about Elon Musk,
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  Speaker 1: who promised $ 100 million to Republicans so they could pay
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  Speaker 1: people to go door to door to get their vote out.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's actually $ 400 million that MAGA Inc. has in
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  Speaker 2: its campaign coffers, and you're right. They opened up those
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  Speaker 2: coffers to help out Darlene Graham, and it worked. She
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  Speaker 2: was the winner in that runoff election just the other day.
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  Speaker 2: She'll be the Republican nominee for Senate in South Carolina.
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  Speaker 2: But as you point out, that's.
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  Speaker 3: A lot of money.
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  Speaker 2: That's a ton of money. uh... and it certainly can
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  Speaker 2: help republicans get out the vote that's what the money
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  Speaker 2: was used for in darlene's darling grams case uh... and
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  Speaker 2: you know when you're talking about a very narrowly divided
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  Speaker 2: congress uh... every little bit counts you often mention elon
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  Speaker 2: musk uh... he has made that promise i'm sure he'll
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  Speaker 2: fulfill that uh... promise that he's made in terms of
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  Speaker 2: spending money to get out the vote for republicans uh...
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  Speaker 2: leading up to the midterms uh... so you know look
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  Speaker 2: i think that republicans realize what's at stake And the
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  Speaker 2: president realizes what's at stake. As you point out, Larry,
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  Speaker 2: I do believe that if Democrats retake control of the House,
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  Speaker 2: they will pursue impeachment proceedings against the president. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know what on what grounds. But that's something that I
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  Speaker 2: do expect will happen.
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  Speaker 3: Has the head of the DNC been fired yet? Because
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  Speaker 3: the money they've raised is pitiful. I mean, they're talking
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  Speaker 3: about $ 16 million. The RNC has almost 10 times that
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  Speaker 3: at $ 130 million. I don't understand what the Democratic National
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  Speaker 3: Committee has been doing all this time, if not raising money.
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, they have some catching up to do, to
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  Speaker 2: say the least. But what Democrats believe they have on
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  Speaker 2: their side, it may not be money, but they believe
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  Speaker 2: they have the energy. And it's a midterm election. So
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  Speaker 2: President Trump's name will not be at the top of
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  Speaker 2: the ballot. And energy really matters in these midterms, you know,
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  Speaker 2: which side can get out their side in greater numbers.
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  Speaker 2: And Democrats believe that they can do just that. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they point to what happened in that primary in Alaska
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  Speaker 2: just the other week in which Mary Totola finished as
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  Speaker 2: the top vote getter. in that primary over a sitting
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  Speaker 2: incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. So that's just one example.
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  Speaker 2: And there may be others as well. Susan Collins is
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  Speaker 2: another one who's facing a tough re-election race. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I mentioned where the president will travel. Let's not forget Maine.
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  Speaker 2: The president most certainly will travel to Maine as well.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, very quickly, what's up with this fight with Canada?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, couldn't have come at a worse time. We're
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: having an economic war with Iran. announced by the Treasury Secretary.
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  Speaker 1: What gives with this tariff war with Canada?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I don't know. I mean, they are not only
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  Speaker 2: our neighbor to the north, they are our second largest
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  Speaker 2: trading partner. And now we're in the beginning stages of a,
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  Speaker 2: not just trade dispute, but a trade war with Canada
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  Speaker 2: that's going to affect both countries and potentially the economies
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  Speaker 2: of both countries. Now, there's still time to call things off,
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  Speaker 2: to let cooler heads prevail, to come to the negotiating table.
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  Speaker 2: But there are no plans to do that just yet.
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  Speaker 2: That's what our trade representative, Jameson Greer, said yesterday. He
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  Speaker 2: did an interview with the CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
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  Speaker 2: and he has indicated that the U.S. and Canada remain
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  Speaker 2: far apart as it relates to sticking points, trying to
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  Speaker 2: get a deal, a trade deal, between both countries.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: John Decker, WOR White House and Washington correspondent and host
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: of the podcast, The White House Briefing Room with John Decker.
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  Speaker 3: That can be found on the iHeartRadio app, and it's
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: a must-listen. Thank you so much, John.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Thanks, Larry. Thanks, Curtis.
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  Speaker 2: Take care. Talk to you soon.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Bye-bye.